Citation

Lee M. Int. J. BioSci. BioTechnol. 2015; 7(1): 51-60.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2015, Science and Engineering Research Support Society)

DOI

10.14257/ijbsbt.2015.7.1.06

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The main purpose of this research is to explore risk factors for suicide attempts of Korean elderly persons who are aged 61 and over. Using data from 2011 Elderly Living Condition Survey database, this study focuses on the effects of social quality on suicide attempts. Social quality is estimated by social unkindness, which is operationalized through having experiences of feeling hurt by others' unkind words or actions. Analysis results show that age, area of residence, ADL functional score, geriatric depression score, communication frequency with children, communication frequency with friends or neighbors, and having experiences of feeling hurt by others' unkind words or actions are significant predictors. Key findings are that those with experiences of feeling hurt by social unkindness have far higher probability of attempting suicide. This implies that, for those who are exposed and vulnerable to social unkindness, without improving unkind social quality, it is not possible to get lowering those suicide attempts. Based on the analysis results, to prevent suicide attempts among older persons, improvement in social quality through encouraging members of society to activate an act of kindness with each other is needed. Policy makers should take this into account when developing policies to deter suicide attempts among the elderly persons.

Keywords: suicide attempts, social quality, kindness, unkind social atmosphere